Decatur, AL
Metro Area Profile
157,747 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Decatur, AL metropolitan area.
Unemployment is 3.3% and median household income $68,116, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.
Rent takes 15% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.0 times that income.
A typical July reaches 90°F and a typical January falls to 32°F, on thirty-year normals.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.3% is lower than 87% of the 379 measured US metros.
Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 76,240 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$2,498 | $68,116 | Top 46%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$951 | $35,213 | Bottom 48%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 13.4% | Bottom 49%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 28.0 min | Top 17%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 21.5% | Bottom 34%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 76,240 | Bottom 32%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 4.8% | Top 6%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.8% | Bottom 47%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 78,841 | Bottom 31%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 57.6% | Bottom 34%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $57,830 | Bottom 31%of 381 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $46,280 | Bottom 33%of 381 | 2025 OEWS |
| Metro employment | 61,240 | Bottom 27%of 381 | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.8% | Top 11%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.3% | Bottom 13%of 379 | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 1,830 | $43,120 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,580 | $31,550 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 1,420 | $59,390 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 1,280 | $25,720 |
| Cashiers | 1,260 | $28,880 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,260 | $43,900 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $847 takes 15% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.97 | Bottom 38%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 74.6% | Top 21%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±124 | 69,308 | Top 30%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$25 | $847 | Bottom 22%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$6,321 | $202,500 | Bottom 46%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 14.9% | Bottom 8%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 9.6% | Bottom 37%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 159,651 in 2024.
Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 1% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 32°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 49.5 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 49.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 32°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 90°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 38°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake.
Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, winter weather, ice storm, hurricane, drought, wildfire, hail, landslide.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes and full cost of living
- No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.
Access
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 21 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones Fld | HSV | 21 mi | 10,001 ft |
| Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl | BHM | 67 mi | 12,007 ft |
| Smyrna | MQY | 110 mi | 8,038 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.